72 SMEATON'S EXTENSIVE EMPLOYMENT PART VI. 



first he constructed, and very effectually answered its 

 purpose at a comparatively small outlay of money. It 

 lies at the corner of a bay, opposite St. Abb's Head, on 

 the coast of Berwickshire, and is almost landlocked, 

 excepting from the north. Smeaton accordingly carried 

 his north pier into deep water for the purpose of pro- 

 tecting the harbour's mouth from that quarter, as well 

 as enlarging the accommodation of the haven. The 

 harbour was thus rendered perfectly safe in all winds, 

 and proved of great convenience and safety to the 

 fishing-craft by which it is chiefly frequented. 



It would occupy too much space to refer in detail to 

 the various other public works on which Mr. Smeaton 

 was employed in the course of his professional career. 

 There was scarcely a crazy old bridge in the kingdom 

 on which he was not called upon to report. He was 

 consulted respecting canal projects almost until the close 

 of his life : amongst others, on the improvement of the 

 Birmingham Canal, the Ure Canal, the Dublin Grand 

 Canal, and various other schemes of the same sort. He 

 was the principal authority on lighthouses, and, amongst 

 others, he erected two on Spurn Point, at the entrance 

 to the Humber, between the years 1771-6, which were 

 lighted by coal-fires down to a comparatively recent 

 period. The Government consulted him respecting their 

 dockyards at Plymouth and Portsmouth. Water com- 

 panies consulted him as to water supply, and landowners 

 and coalowners as to the best method of draining their 

 lands or working their mines. He was called upon to 

 design many weirs, sluices, and dams, and his dam on 

 the Coquet, north of Newcastle, was considered one of 

 the most complete works of its kind. 



He was ready to supply a design of any new ma- 

 chine, from a ship's pump or a fire-bucket to a turning- 

 lathe or a steam-engine. His machinery was neatly 

 designed, and he was very particular as to its careful 

 execution and finish. The water-pumping engine which 

 he erected for Lord Irwin, at Temple Newsam, near his 



